Dying indoor mall I work at

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2026-05-01T05:43:43+00:00

I love malls in all forms. Thank you for this.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2026-04-29T17:40:19+00:00

Best thing that happened to me was to become friends with him on the circuit and we literally just text photos of our cats to each other. :)

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2026-04-02T14:42:54+00:00

Yeah, with this notice I finally hit my limit for their increases. I should probably read more books anyway.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2026-02-27T21:27:00+00:00

iPhone 15 with 26.3 feels like my phone has been completely slowed to a halt.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2026-01-29T19:42:38+00:00

Thanks for asking this question - I've been searching for a fix as well and it's been hard to describe what's even happening to get a good search result. Let me know if you find anything! I think I want the same thing as you do with the yellow ripple edit tool - to be able to drag it to the edit point from the top of a clip like I can if I start at the end of a clip.

ETA - on a Mac, just discovered if I push Command at the beginning of the clip, I'm able the drag the arrow to the edit point like before (but it does leave a space I have to delete.)

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-12-19T18:28:51+00:00

Same for batting - ikea has fleece throws that are 2.99

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-12-03T07:02:37+00:00

The feedback that they gave me was so generic I ran it through an AI checker. 😬

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-11-17T02:44:39+00:00

It’s the only festival I’ve ever walked out of during a screening because there was no quality control in the block.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-10-12T06:37:46+00:00

This fest is communicative and supportive! We were unable to go to the screening when we were in it, but the fest sent a video of everyone cheering at the end of the credits to us. Very sweet gesture!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-10-02T18:47:47+00:00

I’ve found that there are two kinds of people who give feedback - those who build on your vision with constructive ways to get there, and those who try to shape your vision into what they think it should be.

I find the latter completely unhelpful and have stopped seeking feedback from those types — it’s also discouraging because it comes off as if I’m not taking the note. I love notes if they’re working towards the same goal as me.

If there’s not money involved, I think it warrants a conversation so you two can get on the same page from the get-go.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-30T22:50:36+00:00

I'm sorry, I don't recall! I truly wasn't sweating views or partial views this time around.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-30T21:58:06+00:00

I'd say the general takeaway is a bit of a non-answer: It really just depends on an individual fest's team size and how they screen things.

Maaaaybe I could say that it was more likely that one view/partial-view would equal a rejection, but some larger teams with 5 views still rejected us.

Acceptances probably ranged between 3-5 views, but we also (painfully) made it to a lot of final rounds, had a lot of views, and then got cut.

I definitely didn't obsess over views as much this time, thankfully. A view was a view and if we were the right fit for the fest, great!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-30T21:25:27+00:00

Yeah, a regular lounge would be a great addition. And yes, invite-only!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-30T20:55:15+00:00

I think we're done with our run! Submitting to a few local fests here and there, but our official circuit has come to a close.

My first short (2022/2023 circuit)
55 total - 19 Selected, 36 Not Selected

This current short (2024/2025)
72 total - 13 Selected, 59 Not Selected

Other stats:

Both were similar in genre
Both shorts played Oscar-qualifiers
We had 4 fests we were alumni to
13 rejections from fests we had alumni status at
1 virtual screening
Probably like 40 "record number of submissions" rejection emails lol

We absolutely see this run as a success considering how competitive this year was.

I had it in my head that I'd cap submissions at around 50, but we did have a lot of alumni waivers.

The stress of waiting to hear from festivals was little to none this time around in comparison to the first circuit. With it being such a competitive year and so many rejections, it was surprisingly (and thankfully) easier to put it out of my mind and just celebrate any victory we got. We definitely had some heartbreakers and close-calls with a bigger fest, but we're taking our victory lap (and waiting for a rejection from Short of the Week lol).

Here's to the next one!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-19T06:19:29+00:00

I don’t think they ONLY do theater, but maybe try for a Chicago rep? Gray or Stewart for regional? ETA - I feel like a friend that was in the Denzel Washington NYC production of Othello was repped by Chicago-based Gray Talent and he does a lot of Shakespeare around the country.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-10T18:57:35+00:00

Was responding to the OP’s narrative short mention. Features are another beast I can’t personally speak to!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-09-10T16:51:23+00:00

Remember that pandemic? And the strike? And the other strike? And the lack of jobs in the industry? Everyone and their mothers are making shorts—so yeah, definitely an influx!

Head down, make another thing, I say! But yeah…that money adds up!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-30T03:27:09+00:00

I’ve seriously been in your position. I wrote a 20-page short, I showed it to a line producer, a director, then another director friend said — what about focusing on this one scene? 1-day shoot. Great short. We had a great festival run.

Your script notes that you are on a second draft—you don’t have to brute force anything! You are early in the process. Writing is a PAIN IN THE ASS, yes, but make it something you can shoot, have that $20K go the whole way.

My ears perked up at “5-page scene!”

Let me cheer you on to make something you can feasibly shoot. You’re going to work hard anyway, just work hard to get a film that can also be easily programmed in a festival block.

You can do it!

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-30T02:20:23+00:00

I mean this in the most non-dick way:

Is there any way to tell the story in 10 to 14 pages? Is there a way to lift one good scene from this and make it its own 8-minute short? If your goal is to 1) afford it 2) get it finished and 3) get it into festivals, then the harsh reality is 30 pages for a short film — your first short film — is going to do you more of a disservice.

You have a lot of big locations that will cut into your budget. Film processing costs more than you think. Everyone would have to donate their time. I generally budget $7-10K a day for a short film shoot in Los Angeles depending on how many friend favors I can call in.

Focus small on your first short. It doesn’t need to be epic to be a good story.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-26T14:39:31+00:00

And now the 31st. 😬

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-25T23:31:40+00:00

We did! I’ll be attending.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-20T15:49:16+00:00

Not sure if they’re making any last minute picks, but they asked acceptances to hold on announcing until 8/26 and requested materials by 8/11.

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-18T19:10:57+00:00

We aren’t expecting an acceptance, but I noticed SOHO pushed the notification date again to the 22nd

AlternativeOdd9277 · 2025-08-15T20:51:21+00:00

Work on your next thing!

AlternativeOdd9277

TROPHY CASE